Premonitions hints at past lives and common experiences, as it draws subtle connections between people on their personal quests for adventure, love and family.

Amelia Rothman, a foreign-rights editor from New York, has a turbulent personal life. Adele Durand, a young French woman, marries the wrong man in 18th century revolutionary France. What do these two women have in common? Is it possible that an apprentice medicine-man in 15th century Africa and an ancient sword hold the answers to a question which transcends time itself?

Premonitions in the second book in the Recognitions trilogy.

Reader Reviews

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I really enjoyed this book. I haven’t read the first book in the series but that didn’t effect my understanding of the story. Premonitions follows 3 different characters in 3 different timelines. A shaman in 1577+, Adele in Gex, France 1776+ and Amelia in New York in 2018. It becomes clear early on that Amelia and Adele are linked. It later transpired that they are the same person reincarnated. The story seamlessly moves between all 3 characters. I’m looking forward to reading the other books in the series. ~ Louise Tang (Reviewer), NetGalley

The book begins in 1500s in Africa with a Medicine man saving the life of an infant. We then move to the 1700s in France. There we meet Adele. She is married to a merchant’s son and has two children. She runs into a former suitor and begins to question the decisions she made with her life. We jump to 2018 and find Amelia, a mother of two living in the United States. Her estranged husband asks her to give them another try for the sake of the children. Amelia must decide what is important to her...The story is well written and fast paced....I am hooked on the story and now have to wait for the next book to find out what happens in the three timelines. ~ Dawn Thomas (Reviewer) , NetGalley

We approach this story on three different timelines. Whether or not these lines of time are peopled by the same souls is entirely up to us, the readers. We encounter the witch-doctor of a small West African village in 1577. Childless himself, he takes on the training of the son of the local mute woman. From a young age, he trains this young man in the ways of a sixteenth-century community medicine man............. Amelia is the divorced mother of two teenagers in New York City in 2018. Her daughter Jen is deeply into fencing. Amelia, an author, has consulted a hypnotherapist concerning her problems with insomnia, anxieties and the weird, intense feelings of deja vu she experienced while in France a little over a month ago. Amelia is perhaps also getting deeply into fencing instructor Noah...........Adele is 18, living in Gex, France in 1776. She has been courted by the local school teacher, Jules, who has her heart, but also lately she has been pursued by the son of a wealthy local shopkeeper, Pierre who promises her travel and Paris in time..........
We alternate between these three timelines, these three locales and cover many years, seeing these worlds through other eyes.
We see through the eyes of our in-training Medicine man as white slavers kidnap or murder all the young men of the village........We look through the Eyes of Amelia as she talks Noah into a trip to modern France with her...........And we see through the eyes of Adele, as she runs away with her schoolteacher Jules, now a fully qualified maitre-d'armes, once her children are grown, seeing Gux and Paris as it was during the French revolution. What does it all mean? Do we believe in coincidence? Premonition? This book is the second of a trilogy but completely stands alone. I will be looking for the other two, to have the whole of the story in my hands. ~ Bonnye Reed Fry (Reviewer), NetGalley

Sometimes in your life you feel like something you’re experiencing has already happened in an uncertain past. This is what happens to Amelia, a New York-based novelist, who starts having visions and dreams about her past after a traumatic divorce that forces her to go hypnotherapy. Gradually we see how Amelia’s life is directly interwoven with other two stories: the story of an African young apprentice that turns into a medicine man after the death of his mentor during the African slave trade; the life of Adele, a French young woman, that decided to abandon her husband in order to fly away with her real lover, Jules, a fencing teacher, during the years that preceded the French Revolution........ Our current life might be influenced by past lives. Maybe there is a karmic connection with our past, but it’s something we can choose to believe or not. The idea of connecting three stories taking place into three different eras is what makes the novel even more powerful. I’m looking forward to reading the third book in the series.Rating: 5 out of 5 stars ~ Francesco Camodeca (Reviewer) , NetGalley

Enjoyed this book. Kept me interested all the way through. Would recommend to a fellow reader. Love the cover. ~ Callie Briley (Educator), NetGalley

Premonitions is the second book in the Recognitions series. The story opens with a prologue set in 1500s West Africa where a healer works his premonitions magic on a baby. The story continues to Paris around the time of the French Revolution and then Amelia sets off on a journey to explore these other lives she learns she has lived through a hypnotherapy session. Overall the book was enjoyable and easy to read. Would like to see more from this author. ~ Ily Renfroe (Media), NetGalley

Read in a day, as it was quite a short story with approx 176 pages. I tend to avoid books with different timelines as it's not something that i particularly like in a book, but must say that on this occasion, i did. It is the first time that i have read a book by this author and hope to read more. ~ Jeanette Styles (Reviewer) , NetGalley

I thoroughly enjoyed 'Premonitions'. I look forward to the conclusion of the trilogy and recommend Daniela I Norris as an author. Her writing is well paced and easy to read and she easily drew me into the three different worlds. ~ Rosalind Bryden , NetGalley

I liked this short book: it's engaging and entertaining. I look forward to reading the other installment in this series. Recommended!
~ Anna Maria Giacomasso , NetGalley

This novel is the second of a series of three novels, in which an Amelia Rothschild, an American mother, begins to recall lives that may or not be memories of earlier incarnations.
She feels impelled to take time off to visit France with a colleague who could be more, finally turning her back on her ex. The memories begun to clamour
Moving backwards in time, the story turns on the one hand to the memories of a young Shaman who lived in the fifteenth century and more particularly, to young mother and wife Adele Durand whom, despite her guilded cage of relative prosperity, feels stultified and utterly unfulfilled. That was surely, of course, the lot of most women those days, whose husbands did not encourage active participation in the affairs of the outside world. Gradually, though, we get to learn about her adolescent sweetheart, a schoolteacher who did not possess means, but who did capture her heart. But the year is 1789 and her true love has dedicated himself to a revolution, as both hasten to Paris......
Meanwhile in the present, our current heroine's friend also finds traumatic fragments of memory beginning to resurface, as they visit certain Parisian monuments. Where is this all leading?
The more grisly ramifications for Adele do not resurface in the way some readers might have wished for - this novel is not for horror afficionadoes, though end of this trail did seem to end a little abruptly. The main theme is of course about romantic love and how it may survive subsequent incarnations - and whether or not life dilemmas might be better resvedvon future incarnations. No doubt, the third edition in this trilogy will continue to pick up further lost threads.
This novel should certainly appeal to romantic-minded readers and those who are already fascinated by the question of whether or not there really can be memories of past lives.
~

This novel is the second of a series of three novels, in which an Amelia Rothschild, an American mother, begins to recall lives that may or not be memories of earlier incarnations.
She feels impelled to take time off to visit France with a colleague who could be more, finally turning her back on her ex. The memories begun to clamour
Moving backwards in time, the story turns on the one hand to the memories of a young Shaman who lived in the fifteenth century and more particularly, to young mother and wife Adele Durand whom, despite her guilded cage of relative prosperity, feels stultified and utterly unfulfilled. That was surely, of course, the lot of most women those days, whose husbands did not encourage active participation in the affairs of the outside world. Gradually, though, we get to learn about her adolescent sweetheart, a schoolteacher who did not possess means, but who did capture her heart. But the year is 1789 and her true love has dedicated himself to a revolution, as both hasten to Paris......
Meanwhile in the present, our current heroine's friend also finds traumatic fragments of memory beginning to resurface, as they visit certain Parisian monuments. Where is this all leading?
The more grisly ramifications for Adele do not resurface in the way some readers might have wished for - this novel is not for horror afficionadoes, though end of this trail did seem to end a little abruptly. The main theme is of course about romantic love and how it may survive subsequent incarnations - and whether or not life dilemmas might be better resvedvon future incarnations. No doubt, the third edition in this trilogy will continue to pick up further lost threads.
This novel should certainly appeal to romantic-minded readers and those who are already fascinated by the question of whether or not there really can be memories of past lives. ~ Lynda S, Reviewer, Netgalley

It had me very intrigued from the start and things got eerier with the parallels between Amelia-Noah and Adele-Jules. I ~ Shivangi Beegoo , NetGalley

“Premonitions” wraps three very different centuries and locales of people together thru a chain of subtle effects where the distance of time and place don’t really matter. The characters in each are believable and relatable with colorful descriptions. I hadn’t read the first book, “Recognitions”, but once the third book is released I think it would be best to start at the first and read thru all three. I could sense that I was missing something and I’m interested to see how the story of Adele/Jules and Amelia/Noah progress in the third book. This is a quick and entertaining read.
(I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks so much to John Hunt Publishing, Roundfire Books and NetGalley for making it available.) ~ Catherine T, Reviewer, Netgalley

This is a spooky love story about a couple who’s connection seems to span more than this life and how it is all interwoven with a witch doctor. It’s the second book in the trilogy and I can’t wait to read the last part as the ending left me desperate for more. ~ Lindsay A, Reviewer, Netgalley

Premonitions is the second book, having not read the first one I did just fine with it. The book was surprisingly short, but I would read more by this author. ~ Heather B, Reviewer, Netgalley

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for sending me a copy of this book to read and review honestly. It is probably because I did not read the first book in this trilogy before starting off with this one that I felt like something was amiss? I mean, like I was supposed to know something before but I didn't? However, that did not make the story less interesting! It had me very intrigued from the start and things got eerier with the parallels between Amelia-Noah and Adele-Jules. I'm not sure I understood the relation with the African medicine man but all in all, it was a nice read. ~ Reviewer 497870, Netgalley

A great sequel to Recognitions, a book I remember thoroughly enjoying a few years ago. In Premonitions, we meet all of the same characters as before, with the action still set in the same three very different eras. The story begins in West Africa in 1577 in a primitive village of mud huts and medicine men; it then moves forward to 2018 before moving back to 1770s France. The action alternates, in staccato chapters back and forth between the three time frames as the past life links between the characters in each era becomes ever more apparent. At the story almost feels autobiographical, especially when Norris mentions writing her previous book, Recognitions and makes references to the writing of this one. My one reservation with this book is its length - I was reading it on my Kindle and it said I had another 22mins to go, when it came to an abrupt and totally unexpected end. I thought there must be an error, but it seems not. I read it in one evening and it left me feeling that this three part series would have been better published as one, or at the most, two books. With thanks to Netgalley, John Hunt Publishing and Roundfire Books for the ARC in return for an honest review. ~ Veryan Williams-Wynn, NetGallley

Well, I am at a loss for words. All I can really say is I loved this book.
I thought the storyline was well thought out and beautifully, hauntingly written. I fell in love with the characters right from the start. The storyline flowed seemlessly from one generation to another. I cannot wait for book three in this series.
Well worth a read though I do have one suggestion. DON'T start reading this book while you are on a meal break at work!! You will find it impossible to put down like I did. ~ Sue Blanchard, NetGalley

This was the 2nd book in series by this author. I did not know that. This was a paranormal great storyline that will captivate you till the end. I did not know that too. This was a short book to read. I wish I knew that too. I am looking forward to another book by this author because what I read was great! You will find out that too! ~ Mariola S, Librarian , Netgalley

Premonitions grabs you from the first word, and keep you hooked to the very last. So melodically written, with characters and timelines harmonising in perfect synchronicity, culminating in a story that piques our interest in human emotions and the depths of human experiences. A riveting read. ~ Reena Kumarasingham,author of Shrouded Truth

Daniela I. Norris captivates the reader with the way she weaves past-lives stories together and the sparkle of her narrative. A must read. ~ Andy Tomlinson,author of Healing the Eternal Soul

Premonitions by Daniela I. Norris is a book about three generations of people. Amelia has just ended a relationship with her daughter's fencing coach. Telling herself it is for the sake of the children, she is still trying to come to terms with the decision and undergoes hypnotherapy to help her with her anxieties. In sixteenth-century Africa, a shaman and his apprentice are witnesses to a horrific attack on their village when “ghost faced men” descend on their people and leave a trail of destruction. Spiriting away the young men of the village in chains, it is left to the apprentice to nurture the remaining villagers. Meanwhile, in the eighteenth century, Adele is the envy of her friends and family. She has an attentive husband, beautiful children, and a splendid house, but all is not well. Adele is wondering if the choice she made at eighteen was the right one or did her family pressure her into a marriage of convenience. What is it that links these three people? Is it a past life link or merely a coincidence?
I loved this book! In Premonitions, Daniela I. Norris whisks you through the centuries effortlessly. You are transported to the shaman's humble dwelling and feel the palpable fear of the villagers. The frustration of the French people who are starving on the streets of Paris while the aristocracy feast on banquets leaps from the page. This is a book that makes you wonder if past lives are an actual phenomenon or just the product of an active imagination. Whether you are a believer or not, this excellent book is a quality read and will keep you gripped until the final page. ~ Tracy Young, Readers’ Favorite

Premonitions, the second book in the Recognitions series, opens with a prologue set in 1500s West Africa where a healer works his magic on a baby and faces fear and gratitude from the villagers he helps. Fast forward to 2018 New York City, where a mother faces her daughter's rising confidence and power and her own lasting changes as her confrontation with past lives lead her to separate from her husband after some twenty years of marriage.
Amelia has confronted her husband's absence, his rush to a new life, and her own altered state of consciousness and life. Now she faces new consequences stemming from the publication of her book Recognitions and the results of decisions made in her altered life.
By the third chapter, which takes place in France in 1776, it should be evidence that Premonitions features a wandering timeline that reinforces past lives, experiences, and quests for love and family as it draws connections between people with ties that transcend time itself.
Invisible lines must be crossed by each character and evil confronted by leaders, apprentices, would-be warriors and those just struggling to maintain their morals and ethics in worlds filled with changes.
Of necessity (and like its predecessor Recognitions), Premonitions involves time travel through not just different eras, but different personalities as the impact of their choices, actions, and decisions resonate through the ages. This approach demands attention and flexibility from readers who ideally are already fans of Cloud Atlas, Life After Life, and similar literary dips into the idea of reincarnated lives and revised purposes from them.
Readers with such interests and backgrounds will find Premonitions joins the best of such reads with an attention to ancient apprehensions, ghosts, processes of battle and comfort, and generations changed by a phenomenon few can adequately describe. The acknowledgment of this force receives delicate coverage as characters move within their worlds and come to realize the indescribable forces affecting them: "We stood there for a few moments, holding hands in silence, trying to make sense of what we were feeling, what we were experiencing. And we could still not find words to describe it to each other. For me, it was a feeling of dread, it was a premonition. A premonition that something very wrong was going to happen – or perhaps it already happened? Could it have already happened, right here, over two hundred years ago?"
As readers probe each character's world, emotions, perceptions, and changes, they will delight in a story that evolves beyond the usual timeslip or alternate lives exploration to probe the presence and impact of different kinds of magic in different cultures and eras.
While Premonitions will best be ingested by those who enjoyed the background provided in Recognitions, it will also reach newcomers who look for novels of reincarnation, connections, and transformation. Uplifting and enlightening, Premonitions is a worthy sequel to Recognitions that deserves just as much acclaim as the first in the series. ~ Diane Donovan, Midwest Book Review

Praise for Recognitions: A very interesting and thoughtful book. Delving into the possibilities of past lives and the way that are conscious minds are interlinked with our sub-conscious. Those feelings of Deja-Vu are maybe more than a coincidence, and we have possibly had some type of premonition or dream relating to that moment. Who knows? A lovely piece of writing that gets you thinking. This is the first of a trilogy, and I will definitely be reading the next two! ~ BookwormDH, Goodreads

Praise for Recognitions: In general a great book. I had a long 2 hour one-way drive to take--in order to help one of my sons fix his tractor. So, I logged onto Audible and did a real quick search and decided on 'Recognitions' because of the sword on the front cover. I was thinking this was going to have lots of sword fights and generally gobs of blood and guts. Instead, what I got was a really captivating story about how our past lives affect our current ones. In fact, I was surprised that such a sensitive book captivated my attention.
Years ago, when I was in the Navy (stationed in the far east) I was really into: transcendental meditation; personal mantras, spirit projection, out-of body experiences etc. So, I was really engrossed by the book. In fact, it passed, it passed my "got to take a bathroom break as fast as I can test".
The book itself was very disjointed. Jumping from current day New York, to 1700's France, to 1600's Africa. You would expect that a recording of such a book would be at least difficult to follow, But, the narrator did a superb job at switching meters, tones, and accents to give cue's as to where we were at. I really enjoyed listening to her quickly establish a place and time by: how formal she spoke, meters and tones she used, etc. She must have lots of experience doing this, but I could find another book that she had narrated??
To me, it seemed like a 'chick-book': lots of emotion, life issues, and extremely limited blood and guts. (but, the crocodile scene made me squirm in my seat...kind of cool). So, it was not what I expected. Further, I would have not chosen it if I knew what it was about. But, still I really enjoyed it. Bravo. Next time I take a long trip, I'll look for either this author or narrator.
So, maybe...Just maybe...this was meant to be... ~ Amazon.com

Praise for Recognitions: Wow, I was blown away by this book! I don't think I have ever read a book that talked about past lives and the three lives of Amelia in the present and then Adele and the African Shaman in the past, were beautifully interwoven. The secondary characters in the book were also very well fleshed out, I felt a connection with each of them. I really wanted to know what happened with each of the characters and what their connections were to each other - I had just started to speculate the whys and wherefores when the book ended...so I am very happy to know there is a sequel!
It took me a little while to get into this book but once it grabbed me I couldn't put it down. ~ The Book Club, Amazon.com

Praise for Recognitions: Past lives of Adele, 17th century, and a Shaman, during slave times, present lives of Amelia, 3 lives that is. Adele was French and the Shaman, African. The author did a good job of entwining the past and present.Amelia is in New York and is a foreign rights book editor. Her marriage has not succeeded, it has failed terribly. She has the goods and bads of raising teenagers by herself as a single mother. That's a struggle in itself. She has anxiety and insomnia so she starts having hypnotherapy sessions to help her deal. I feel you have to connect with the characters in a book, at least some of them, in order to get an understanding as to what the author is presenting. The author gives you the characters, their lives and their connection to each other. Amelia could very well be your friend, your next door neighbor, a family member. It is possible. You don't have to be a believer in reincarnation to enjoy the book. The story doesn't bog the reader down, moving at a fairly fast pace. It's fascinating delving into past lives and how they mix with the other character's present lives. This is Book One, debut novel with two others coming in the near future. This should be quite a series. This book will definitely leave you wanting more at the end and more you will get with Book Two in the making. Have you ever felt there was a connection between you and someone else, either past or present? You may not know them but you get this feeling you know the person. I would highly recommend this book. Interesting! ~ Amazon.com

Praise for Recognitions: Recognitions by Daniela I. Norris, in its own right, is a genre bending novel. While the centrepiece of the story is about religion and spirituality – about connections, self-realization and enlightenment, it is also a psychological thriller with good doses of suspense and mystery. All these elements are woven into the story through Amelia Rothman, whose first person narrative was both soulful and a delight. What is at the heart of the story is the how the stories of Adele Durant and an African Shaman are intertwined with that of Amelia Rothman.
As a result, Recognitions by Daniela I. Norris is a delicately crafted novel that follows three different characters through different time lines, but with each character and story complementing the others. While the characters are complex, the storyline, however, is not twisted. Author Daniela I. Norris has done a commendable job in writing a story which is original in concept and not too detailed to the point of boredom. I look forward to the next book in the trilogy ~ Sojourner, Goodreads

Praise for Recognitions; An intricate tale of past lives and their affects on current life. The author takes us on a personal journey by Amelia, a divorcee struggling to make sense of life. Synchronicities play an important role in our lives and for Amelia she only began to take notice after a past life regression session. This also prompts dreams and a strange feeling of downloading a story which she is writing. The book explores the connections, or recognitions, between past life experiences and relationships and those of present experience. Do we really meet and interact with the same souls in multiple lifetimes? Is there really some mysterious force guiding us so that we have those recognitions. The author has done a great job in skilfully telling the stories, cleverly transitioning between Amelia's present life, her dreams and recessions, and guided writing. Why the sword? Well you will just have to read to the end to find out. ~ Jim Murdoch, Goodreads

Praise for Recognitions: Living in New York, our heroine, Amelia, has reached an exceedingly stressful stage in her life, coping with divorce, two teenagers and an excessive workload to keep her head above water. Simultaneously she is trying to complete a long-unfinished novel. A friend suggests hypnotherapy, to help at least with sleeplessness.
Tentatively Amelia ventures for therapy. The counting down method for deep relaxation used by her therapist,Tatiana, takes Amelia into a form of regression. She slips back beyond her current life into a possible past life. She meets a young eighteenth-century teenager on a different continent. Adele is on the verge of womanhood, choosing her future.
Leaving the therapist Amelia feels different, more alive, with enhanced awareness, being conscious of synchronicities. Strangely, she encounters a man from her past.
The sudden awakening of these dormant memories overcomes Amelia’s writer’s block and she uses these characters to progress her novel with great excitement. Meantime, she still has to contend with her teenagers and ex-husband.
Having benefited, she has another session with Tatiana expecting more of Adele, but this time the imagery is of an ancient shaman.
Thus we have three differing stories running concurrently, woven into a fascinating braid culminating in a climax showing how deeply we are all a part of our roots.
An intriguing read – our author knows her subject. ~ Jean Morris, Society of Women Writers and Journalists magazine